LANGLEY — The future of individual B.C. high school sports commissions won’t be decided later this month by a vote of the province’s 460 member schools as originally planned, but instead has been tabled to a future date during the 2020-21 academic year.
That, along with the official cancellation of the spring season of zone and provincial championship play due to the COVID-19 pandemic were among the major announcements made by B.C. School Sports in a memorandum sent to its member school administrators and athletic directors on Tuesday following a virtual BCSS Board of Directors meeting on Friday.
The full release was also posted on B.C. School Sports’ website and can be read in its entirety here.
The release went on to say that “the Board of Directors has made the decision to proceed with a virtual AGM in June. The staff are working on the exact date and logistics now which will be confirmed in the days to come. The Board has also decided that the Governance Proposal which was published in February to come forward to the 2020 AGM will NOT come forward for a membership vote at this time. The Board felt the recommended changes, which they have and continue to endorse entirely, requires a proper forum for discussion, both leading up to, and at the general meeting. Much of the discussions that had been happening on this front have ceased. The Board will look to bring forward the governance recommendation at an appropriate time in the 2020-21 academic year to continue the required dialogue and vote on the proposed changes.”
The governance proposal, if passed by a two-thirds majority vote, would effectively dissolve the commissions of 19 different boys and girls high school sports, bringing all under the umbrella of BCSS.
The vote had been set for April 19.
BCSS also announced that, due to the cancellation of the spring season, which included boys rugby, track and field and girls soccer, “that any student who is currently in their fifth and final year of BCSS eligibility in 2019-20 who returns to school next year, and who remains eligible by all other BCSS policies (I.E. Age, Credits Enrolled, Residence etc.) will upon application, receive a sixth year of eligibility, applicable to any spring season activity. The sixth season will not apply to fall or winter sports. The Board has granted the Eligibility Officers the ability to grant this without requiring an appeal, only for the 2020-2021 academic year.”
Varsity Letters’ original story on all of the issues arising from governance proposal was published March 12. You can ready it in its entirety by clocking here.
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